ST. ANTHONY, NL – Over a year ago, it seemed possible that Candice Lewis didn’t have much longer to live.

Now, she’s helping walk her sister down the aisle.

Candice, who has different illnesses including spina bifida, has seen her condition improve markedly since a visit to St. John’s hospital in July.

According to her mom, Sheila Elson, Candice hasn’t been having any seizures, is now able to feed herself, walk with assistance, use her iPad, and is more alert, energetic and communicative since her stay in St. John’s.

“She’s back to about where she was five or six years ago,” says Elson.

After a two-week hospital stay, Candice, along with her mother, walked her sister Glennis down the aisle at her wedding in Dildo in August.

She’s been able to do all this despite the fact that in 2016, doctors suggested that Candice might be dying.

In September of that year, a doctor at Charles S. Curtis Memorial Hospital in St. Anthony had also suggested to Elson that physician-assisted death could be an option for Candice.

As reported in the July 19 edition of the Northern Pen, Elson felt this was unwarranted and says it caused emotional distress for her and her daughter.

Labrador-Grenfell Health apologized in a letter addressed to Elson, but she wasn’t satisfied.

What is satisfying her these days is her daughter’s health. Since returning to St. Anthony earlier this month, Candice hasn’t required a visit to the hospital.

Elson believes Candice’s condition has improved because she is now on fewer medications.

Doctors in St. John’s, she says, took Candice off a number of the drugs she had been prescribed in St. Anthony. By the time she is completely weaned off all the medications, she’ll be down from about 20 different pills per day to just five. This total includes her seizure medications, which will be cut from eight pills down to one.

“They were all addictive drugs,” says Elson.

She feels those drugs had been keeping Candice immobile. Now, she’s just happy to see her daughter doing so much better.